From the German patent document DE 727 196 it has for a long time been of known art to form aircraft fuselages from a large number of fuselage rings. Adjacent fuselage rings are joined with one another in the transverse joint region and with their edge sections thereby form a riveted overlap joint. As a result of manufacturing and component tolerances between the overlapping edge sections a radial gap can occur, at least in some sections. In fuselages of metal construction these gaps can be closed by an appropriate deformation of the edge sections during riveting.
The gaps are particularly problematic, however, in the case of carbon fibre reinforced fuselages (CFRP fuselages) since these can hardly be deformed at all. Component tolerances are thus compensated for by a filler mass in the gaps. Accurate metering and positioning of the filler mass is, however, very difficult as a result of limited accessibility, since in the manufacture of an overlap joint in particular the filler mass can flow out or be displaced as a result of shear forces during the assembly process.
Alternatively US 2006/0060705 A1 envisages positioning CFRP fuselage rings side-by-side and riveting their adjacent edge sections together by means of a transverse joint tab. However even in this solution of known art accurate metering and positioning of the filler mass is critical.